In recent years there has been a great increase in the interest in the growing of both vegetables and house plants by the American public. This increase in interest has resulted from numerous factors, including the impact of inflation upon the cost of foods and the desire to have growing plants to beautify the home.
While some sections of the country are blessed with mild climates which facilitate year-round outdoor gardening without excessive hardship on the plants, many parts of the country are not so blessed. In many areas, particularly in the northern parts of the country, the effects of wind, rain, fog and cold both shorten the growing season and present significant additional stresses to plants so exposed. In conventional outdoor gardening such effects limit both the types of plants which may be grown and also the amount, due to the short growing season. Additionally, plants grown indoors frequently suffer from excessively dry warm air and radical fluctuations in temperature between day and night. This environment is particularly unhealthy for many plants which require warm, semi-tropical environments.
For both of the above situations there heretofore have been few satisfactory answers other than the construction of costly greenhouses or special greenhouse windows for homes. Particularly has this problem prevented the growing of plants in fixed beds outdoors.